Washington policymakers are not exactly getting a vote of confidence for their response to the ongoing housing market crisis from two very influential corners. One is legendary pioneer of the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market, Lewis Ranieri--who, while at Salomon Brothers, New York, played a key role in getting the MBS market off the ground. The other is respected real estate economist Kenneth Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics and Professor Emeritus at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Rosen is also the special real estate adviser to The Davos World Economic Forum. Back in April, Ranieri and Rosen released a report called Plan B: A Comprehensive Approach to Moving Housing, Households and the Economy Forward. When we interviewed Rosen, he summed up the motivation for the report this way: "We feel the housing crisis is not being adequately addressed in Washington." At least that's how he put it initially, before he got deeper into the conversation.
